Thursday, April 8, 2010

Ben Sherman Winter 2010

With new creative leadership in place Ben Sherman is poised to take things to the next level. I haven't really talked about Ben Sherman on the blog all that much because, well, the cookie cutter gear was pretty off the mark in my opinion. This was extremely disappointing to me considering the brand's rich history and mod roots - what was once a symbol of London cool had gone the way of watered down mall wear.

Winter 2010's theme is "Rock and Roll Gentry" with the collection "inspired by images of British rock starts and the elecetic mix of formal styling fused with traditional rock n' roll attitude" - now that's more like it. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far (that last red jacket is lust worthy) and it seems obvious to me that Ben Sherman has taken a page out of the J. Crew playbook to make things right again. Check out the gear below (highlighted by the outerwear and chinos) modeled by the man making this all happen, Head of Menswear Design, Mark Williams. It may very well be time to start talking about Ben Sherman again...

I couldn't disagree more about Ben Sherman.Of course you're right that it had devolved into tacky mallwear, but I fail to see how this is any better.

It's a brand with an enviable history, heritage and a rock solid association with a particular style

This looks like every other americana/heritage/neotrad line out there.

If you put out a heritage line, shouldn't it be your own?Why does every store/company's hertiage line look like J.Crew? (not that Crew originated this)Banana Republic used to have some great, well made stuff back when they were psuedo-safari, why not re-release that? (rather than their current shawl and chambay hertitage line)Why doesn't Ben sherman highlight the (many) distinct things they've put out over the years?

Again, just found your blog, and really enjoy it, just hate the groupthink in men's wear.

Always have had a love/hate relationship with this brand. You would think they would have been the first out the gate to get a forward designer on board and rock that ish keeping true to the heritage and history. I'll find myself buying something really feeling myself and then a day later wanting to donate it to goodwill.

That being said, I'm kinda feelin some of these looks like the ones with the Cardi's. You never know.

There are a couple of nice bits in the collection and you're right about the heritage too.

But in terms of the UK market I can't see how the brand could ever shake off its image as a retailer of clothes for scally kids and beer boys that it's unfortunately descended to (go out at night in any Northern town to see this in full effect).

I guess in the US this isn't as apparent but over here Ben Sherman isn't really a name you'd want on your shirt. Maybe going forward they can shake this off, it'll be interesting to watch.

jcnfh- All group think and trend exploitation aside, the collection above does have a few modish pieces. The cigarette trousers, pops of red, and various outerwear pieces do point back to BS's roots...just playin' devil's advocate.

I am surprised at the negativity in previous comments. From what I have seen of Ben Sherman recently, they have really stepped up their game. In the past, my understanding of the brand was that it was predominantly checked shirts worn by overweight taxi drivers. However, the images above clearly show that the product has moved on and is as directional as anything I have seen from other look books. FYI, personally I think the model looks hot.

I buy Ben Sherman BECAUSE it's not American. I can't stand boring Gap-like clothes. I won't buy any Ben Sherman items that look like hunter's gear. No thanks. I will stick with the sophisticated British-style clothing that the brand is famous for. I always get compliments when I dress that way.